CAMP PERRY, Ohio – Returning to the National Matches for the first time since 2016, 1st Lt. James Minturn, 29, of the U.S. Marine Corps shooting team made himself comfortable on the ranges as he claimed both the Three-Gun and Four-Gun Aggregate competitions during the Games portion of the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s (CMP) National Rifle Matches. Minturn accumulated scores of 865-21X and 1156-30X, respectively, in the events.CAMP PERRY, Ohio – Returning to the National Matches for the first time since 2016, 1st Lt. James Minturn, 29, of the U.S. Marine Corps shooting team made himself comfortable on the ranges as he claimed both the Three-Gun and Four-Gun Aggregate competitions during the Games portion of the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s (CMP) National Rifle Matches. Minturn accumulated scores of 865-21X and 1156-30X, respectively, in the events.
The CMP National Games matches feature a variety of vintage and modern rifles fired in recreational-style competitions. The events provide unique challenges to competitors while also celebrating the legacy of each remarkable firearm on the historic grounds of Camp Perry – home to the National Matches for over a century.
“It was a little chaotic, but it was good,” Minturn said of his 2021 Camp Perry showing. “I had a lot of new rifles that I had never touched before, so I had no zeroes – so that was fun.”
Minturn has been to the National Matches several times, even as a junior, and made the most of his 2021 experience by firing in CMP’s Highpower events in July, followed by the traditional National Trophy Rifle matches and the National Games Matches the following week in August. He also fired in the National Air Gun events and the concluding National Long Range Matches.
It had been about eight years since Minturn had fired vintage-style, leaving him to resort to a mix of borrowed rifles from friends and family to use on the range during the Games events.